demon
/ˈdiː.mən/ noun B2- An evil being resident in or working for Hell; a devil.
- A false god or idol; a Satanic divinity.
- A very wicked or malevolent person; also (in weakened sense) a mischievous person, especially a child.
- A source (especially personified) of great evil or wickedness; a destructive feeling or character flaw. · The demon of stupidity haunts me whenever I open my mouth.
- A person's fears or anxieties.
- A person's inner spirit or genius; a guiding or creative impulse.
- A tutelary deity or spirit intermediate between the major Olympian gods and mankind, especially a deified hero or the entity which supposedly guided Socrates, telling him what not to do.
- A supernatural being not considered to be inherently evil; a (non-Christian) deity.
Plural demons
From the library
We will leave Danglars struggling with the demon of hatred, and endeavoring to insinuate in the ear of the shipowner some evil suspicions against his comrade, and follow Dantès, who, after having traversed La Canebière, took the Rue de Noailles, and entering a small house, on the left of the Allées de Meilhan, rapidly ascended four flights of a dark staircase, holding the baluster with one hand, while with the other he repressed the beatings of his heart, and paused before a half-open door, from which he could see the whole of a small room.
“And it is I, Raksha [The Demon], who answers.
He had almost forgotten the days when he won Mother Wolf in fair fight from five other wolves, when she ran in the Pack and was not called The Demon for compliment’s sake.
He was tractable enough, though his son was a perfect demon, ready to blow out his own or anybody else’s brains if he could have got to his revolver.
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